ObamaCare Turns Three: 10 Disturbing Facts Americans Have Learned

Just over three years ago, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously quipped about ObamaCare that "we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it."

But only now, as ObamaCare's third anniversary approaches â President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010 â is the country starting to find out what the sweeping health care overhaul will actually do.

ObamaCare backers typically tout popular features that went into effect almost immediately. The law expanded Medicare's drug coverage, for example, and let children stay on their parents' plans until they turned 26.

But the bulk of ObamaCare doesn't take effect until next year. That's when the so-called insurance exchanges are supposed to be up and running, when the mandate on individuals and businesses kicks in, and when the avalanche of regulations on the insurance industry hits.

As this start date draws near, evidence is piling up that ObamaCare will:

Boost insurance costs. Officially the "Affordable Care Act," ObamaCare promised to lower premiums for families. But regulators decided to impose a 3.5% surcharge on insurance plans sold through federally run exchanges. There's also a $63 fee for every person covered by employers. And the law adds a "premium tax" that will require insurers to pay more than $100 billion over the next decade. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation expects insurers to simply pass this tax onto individuals and small businesses, boosting premiums another 2.5%.

Push millions off employer coverage. In February, the Congressional Budget Office said that 7 million will likely lose their employer coverage thanks to ObamaCare â nearly twice its previous estimate. That number could be as high as 20 million, the CBO says.

Cause premiums to skyrocket. In December, state insurance commissioners warned Obama administration officials that the law's market regulations would likely cause "rate shocks," particularly for younger, healthier people forced by ObamaCare to subsidize premiums for those who are older and sicker.
"We are very concerned about what will happen if essentially there is so much rate shock for young people that they're bound not to purchase (health insurance) at all," said California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.

That same month, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said ObamaCare will likely cause premiums to double for some small businesses and individuals.

And a more recent survey of insurers in five major cities by the American Action Forum found they expect premiums to climb an average 169%.

Cost people their jobs. The Federal Reserve's March beige book on economic activity noted that businesses "cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff."

Meanwhile, human resources consulting firm Adecco found that half of the small businesses it surveyed in January either plan to cut their workforce, not hire new workers, or shift to part-time or temporary help because of ObamaCare.

Tax the middle class. IBD reported in February that much of the $800 billion in tax hikes imposed by ObamaCare will end up hitting the middle class, including $45 billion in mandate penalties, $19 billion raised by limiting medical expense deductions, $24 billion through strict limits on flexible spending accounts, plus another $5 billion because ObamaCare bans using FSAs to buy over-the-counter drugs.

Add to the deficit. The Government Accountability Office reported in January that Obama-Care will likely add $6.2 trillion in red ink over 75 years if independent experts are right and several of its cost control measures don't work as advertised.
Cost more than promised. The Congressional Budget Office now says ObamaCare's insurance subsidies will cost $233 billion more over the next decade than it thought last year.

Be a bureaucratic nightmare. Consumers got their first glimpse of life under ObamaCare when the Health and Human Services Department released a draft insurance application form. It runs 21 pages. "Applying for benefits under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could be as daunting as doing your taxes," the AP concluded after reviewing the form.

Exacerbate doctor shortages. Last summer, a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than its needs by 2015, thanks in large part to ObamaCare. At the same time, a survey of 13,000 doctors by the Physicians Foundation found that almost 60% of doctors say ObamaCare has made them less optimistic about the future of health care and they would retire today if they could.
Leave millions uninsured. After 10 years, ObamaCare will still leave 30 million without coverage, according to the CBO. As IBD reported, that figure could be much higher if the law causes premiums to spike and encourages people to drop coverage despite the law's mandate.

Leave millions uninsured. After 10 years, ObamaCare will still leave 30 million without coverage, according to the CBO. As IBD reported, that figure could be much higher if the law causes premiums to spike and encourages people to drop coverage despite the law's mandate.

During his first campaign for the presidency in 2008, the president promised that his health reform plan would âbring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical familyâ by the end of his first term... In fact, itâs more expensive. Premiums have increased by an average of $3,065. And theyâre about to go up even more, as Obamacare takes effect during the presidentâs second term.

The democrats knew Obamacare would be a disaster. They just see it as a necessary way station on the road to full socialized medicine.

All those bad things in the OP will happen. Do you really think democrats and the media(ok, I'm being redundant) are going to slap their foreheads and say, "what were we thinking? of course this can't work. "

No, they will say, this proves why you can't go halfway. We have to have a full "single payer" system.

Im starting to think obamas hissy fit over the sequester was just him posturing because he knows damn well obamacare is going to be forcing mass layoffs, so when it comes he has an excuse.

MEDIA REPORTS ON OBAMACARE PROBLEMSâ¦ THREE YEARS LATE

Our Johnny-on-the-spot media elite are all over the devilish details of ObamaCare this week. The three-year anniversary of the signing of the bloated government grab is tomorrow, and what better time to point out its massive failures and punitive complications than after it is too late to do anything about it?

In the media's defense, some of the failures being reported on now weren't apparent in 2009 and 2010, but that's not my complaint. My complaint -- and what should be America's complaint -- is where was this kind of scrutiny and reporting when this terrible bill was being gamed through the all-Democrat federal government?

As we all know, skeptical, forward-looking media analysis of ObamaCare was pretty much non-existent back then. We also know that those who did read the bill and report on its real and potential horrors (through New Media and in Townhall meetings) were demonized by the media.

Rather than report on the devilish details or laugh Democrats out of office for submitting fraudulent ObamaCare budgets to the CBO so the monstrosity could be called "deficit neutral," the media instead played State Pipe Organ and focused on all the "goodies."

In the meantime, out here in the real world and contrary to all those cotton candy promises the media assured us would come true, insurers facing all kinds of restrictions and a glut of sick people have boosted our health care premiums, and companies everywhere are cutting back employee work hours to avoid being forced to provide insurance. Moreover, contrary to Obama's biggest promise, people are losing their insurance because companies would prefer to pay the fine than for the Cadillac plans ObamaCare demands.

And how can one even begin to count the number of individual ObamaCare horror stories that dribble out almost daily, not from the ObamaMedia, naturally -- but from conservative media sites like Drudge? We're about to face a terrifying shortage of physicians and heaven only knows what this means.

But if you believe in the philosophy of better-late-than-never, Politico actually summoned a little moral courage Friday morning. One of its morning leads takes a fairly in-depth look at how the bill remains unpopular and the massive uphill battle the government faces (money and tech) to get the ObamaCare pieces in place by October, when people are supposed to start signing up. (ObamaCare's insurance exchanges and most punishing mandates hit early next year.)

Here's Wednesday's Wonk Blog at the Washington Post:

Last week I posted a copy of the draft application for Obamacare benefits, which clocks in at a hefty 21 pages.

Consumer advocates and Wonkblog commenters had similar questions: Why on earth would the federal government create such a complex form to obtain a public benefit?

You donât have to spend much time with the chart to get that, itâs really not simple at all.

More...

And Wednesday's New York Times:

'Our revenues are about $8 million, but the food business is a low-margin industry so cutting $108,000 out of our profits, which are just over $200,000, is a big deal,' said Ms. Shein, who is the chief executive. They are evaluating different ways to comply with the new law and finance the expense.

More...

You get my point. But if you don't, Sean Hannity has a terrific round-up here.

Over at Investors Business Daily, they've come up with "10 Disturbing Facts Americans Have Learned" about ObamaCare over the last three years.

A better title might have been "10 Disturbing Facts About ObamaCare the Media Are Still Covering Up."

Regardless, "disturbing" is a kind word when youâre talking about skyrocketing premium costs, losing your employer-based insurance, having your hours cut back, and nearly a trillion in new tax hikes that will hit the middle class.

The damage Obama, Democrats, the media, and the Supreme Court have done to this country is impossible to wrap your mind around. How did so many become so corrupted that they gleefully aided and abetted the likely destruction of our most vital and successful institution: the imperfect but still amazing American health care system?

Health insurers are privately warning brokers that premiums for many individuals and small businesses could increase sharply next year because of the health-care overhaul law, with the nation's biggest firm projecting that rates could more than double for some consumers buying their own plans.

The projections, made in sessions with brokers and agents, provide some of the most concrete evidence yet of how much insurance companies might increase prices when major provisions of the law kick in next yearâa subject of rigorous debate.

In a private presentation to brokers late last month, UnitedHealth Group Inc., UNH -1.09% the nation's largest carrier, said premiums for some consumers buying their own plans could go up as much as 116%, and small-business rates as much as 25% to 50%. The company said the estimates were driven in part by growing medical costs not directly tied to the law. It also cited the law's requirements that health status not affect rates and that plans include certain minimum benefits and limits to out-of-pocket charges, among other things.